Stripping device for the clearer roller in drafting arrangements



Oct. 23, 1962 w. NAEGELI 3,059,284

STRIPPING DEVICE FOR THE CLEARER ROLLER IN DRAFTING ARRANGEMENTS Filed Jan. 18, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR. VVEPNEA? 1V4 EGEL Oct. 23, 1962 w. NAEGELI 3,059,284

r STRIPPING DEVICE FOR THE CLEARER ROLLER DRAFTING ARRANGEMENTS Filed Jan. 18, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 IINVENTOR. VVP/VEQMEGL'LA HTTO/PNEK w. NAEGELI 3,059,284 STRIPPING DEVICE FOR THE CLEARER ROLLER IN DRAFTING ARRANGEMENTS Filed Jan. 18, 1960 Oct. 23, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. MFA/E2 NqEGEL ATTO/P/VEX United States Patent 01 [ice 3,059,284 Patented Oct. 23, 1 962 Claims priority, application Switzerland Jan. 23, 1959 3 Claims. (Cl. 19263) The present invention relates to a stripping device for clearer rollers in drafting arrangements of spinning machines.

In conventional drafting arrangements in which the top or drawing rollers are cleaned by means of clearer rollers whose surfaces are adapted to accumulate fibres, the clearer rollers must be periodically taken off for removal of fibrous material accumulated thereon. Drafting arrangements which are provided with slowly moving cleaning cloths or with stationary or reciprocating clearer plates which are provided with a covering capable of accumulating fibrous material must also be cleaned from time to time by the operators.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a fully automatic cleaning or stripping device for drafting arrangements which are provided with fly suction arrangements as disclosed, for example, in my copending application Serial No. 752,462, filed August 1, 1958. The device according to the invention includes a comb provided with pointed teeth or needles whose points are placed adjacent to the periphery of a clearer roller which rests on one or more top rolls and which has a surface capable of accumulating fibrous material and moving at a velocity which is different from the circumferential speed of the top roll or top rolls on which the clearer roller rests. When the layer of fibres accumulated on the surface of the clearer roller has obtained a predetermined thickness, individual fibres or bunches thereof are picked from the top of the layer by the points of the needles or teeth of the comb and are thrown into the space within the casing of the drafting arrangement from which they are sucked away by a current of air so that they will not settle down on other parts of the drafting arrangement.

The invention relates also to the structure of the comb and its position relative to the clearer roller. It has been found that the angle at which the comb is set relative to the surface of the clearer roller depends on the number of teeth per unit of length of the comb, on the direction and velocity of the air current, on the type of the fibre accumulating covering of the clearer roller and on the type of the spinning material.

In the stripping arrangement according to theinvention, the teeth of the comb are set at an angle a between 80 and 110 with respect to a tangential plane on the line of intersection of the surface of the clearer roller and the plane of the comb, the angle being measured on the side of the comb onto which runs the surface of the rotating clearer roller. The teeth are inclined longitudinally of the comb at an angle between 60 and 90 with respect to the aforedescribed line. With this position of the teeth of the comb, the fibre material is easily stripped from the clearer roller and the material which may adhere to the points of the teeth is efiiciently blown away by an air current flowing alongside and in axial direction of the clearer roller.

The novel features which are considered characteristic of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, and additional objects and advantages thereof will best be understood from the following description of embodiments thereof when read in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a' drafting arrangement with the lid forming part of the shell or casing of the arrangement in open position. 7

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view .of'the drafting ar- 'rangement shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an analogous cleaning or stripping device. g

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a further modification of the apparatus according to the invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional View of the .device shown in FIG. 4. 7

Referring more particularly to the drawing, numeral 4 designates a slightly conical clearer roller which rests on top rolls 1 and 2 of a drafting arrangement within a casing '3 whose lid is open. The clearer roller 4 is provided with a covering made of plush, woolen cloth, or

foam rubber in the conventional manner for receiving fibres and other impurities adhering to the top rolls 1 and 2. Axial movement of the clearer roller is limited by a shaft 5 extending from the small diameter end of the clearer roller and abutting against a stationary part 6 of the drafting arrangement. The latter is provided with means, not shown, producing an air current within the casing 3 which current is directed substantially paral: lel to the top rolls and carries away fly developing inside the casing 3. A suitable arrangement is shown in my copending application Serial No. 752,462, filed August 1, 1958. By selecting a conicity of the clearer roller suitable for the prevailing friction between the top rolls, and the clearer roller, the direction of the axial movement of the latter can be so controlled that shaft 5 extends from the clearer rollerin a direction which is opposite to the direction of the air current which is indicated by arrows in FIG. 1. With this arrangement, a free passage is provided for the fly which is picked oli the surface of the clearer roller by the device which will be described below.

A clamp 8 is mounted on each of the roller supports 7 of the drafting arrangement for clamping a rod 9 to the stationary supports 7. The center portion of the rod 9 is provided with an axial slot 10 which is slightly longer than the clearer roller 4 and receives a comb plate 11. The latter is fixed on the rod 9 in a desired position by means of bolts 12 extending through apertures 13 which are normal to the longitudinal axis of the rod 9 and oblong to have a longitudinal axis parallel to the rod 9. Needles 14, spaced approximately 2 to 5 mm., are mounted on the lower edge of the comb plate 11 similarly as is done in comb strips of combing machines or gill boxes. i It is important that the needles 14 are placed at a suitable angle 0: with respect to the tangential plane t (FIG. 2) on the surface of the clearer roller 4 at the line of intersection of the plane in which the needles are located with the surface of the clearer roller, the angle a being on the side of the comb towards which the surface of the clearer roller moves when the drafting arrangement is in normal operation. For defining an optimal angle or, the type of spinning material, the type of needles, the direction and velocity of the suction air current, and the type of covering of the clearer roller must be considered. In the example illustrated in FIG. 2, the angle a is which is about the lower limit of this angle.

The rod 9 which is mounted on the supports 7 is provided with a protuberance 15 (FIG. 2) fitting into a complementary recess 16 in the slightly resilient clamp 8. In this way, bending of the needles or of the comb plate, if the latter is forcibly rotated, is prevented because in that case, the resilient end of the clamp 8 is lifted by the protuberance so that the rod 9 together with the comb plate 11 is removed from the clearer roller.

The comb plate 17 shown in FIG. 3 is provided with teeth 18 which are produced by suitably machining one marginal portion of the comb plate. The needles or points 18 are slanted to the left. This is of advantage, if the fiy-removing air current is directed from right to left in axial direction of the clearer roller, as indicated by arrows in FIG. 3. In this way, fibres adhering to the points 18 are easily blown away by the air current. The angle ,6 at which the center lines m of the points or teeth 18 are inclined with respect to the line L in which the surface of the clearer roller is intersected by the plane in which the needles are located, is preferably 60 to 90.

In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the clearer roller 19 rests on two top rolls 1 and 2 which rotate at different speeds so that the circumferential speed of the surface of the clearer roller is between the circumferential speeds of the top rolls 1 and 2. In this way, a relative sliding of the top rolls 1 and 2 and the clearer roller is obtained which is essential for producing the desired wiping effect. Axial movement of the clearer roller 19 in FIG. 3 is prevented by a strap 20 which is swingably supported on the rod 9 between the comb plate 17 and a setting ring 21. The free end of the strap 20 rests between two rings 23 and 24 mounted on a shaft 22 extending from the right end of the clearer roller. Thereis enough clearance provided between the rings 23, 24 and the strap 20 so that the clearer roller can freely rotate. A slight freedom of axial movement of the clearer roller is preferably provided. The strap 20 is preferably made of a lowfriction synthetic material which has a high resistance to abrasion, for example Nylon 66, or of metal having like qualities, particularly if grounding of electrostatic charges is desired.

If, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the clearer roller 25 rests only on one top roll 1, special means must be provided for reducing the difference between the circumferential speeds of the top roll and of the clearer roller which is essential for producing the desired Wiping effect. A support 26 is mounted on each of the clamps 8, the. supports 26 having surfaces frictionally engaging shafts 27 and 28 extending from the ends of the clearer roller 25. Gravity causes frictional engagement between these shafts and the supports 26 so that a braking effect on the clearer roller is produced. If desired, the active diameter of the shaft extensions 27 and 28 may be increased by mounting rings 29 on the shaft extensions 27 and 28 as shown in FIG. 5. By suitably selecting the diameter of the rings 29, the brake moment and the dilference between the circumferential speeds of the top roll 1 and of the clearer roller can be made to fit the general conditions of the drafting and cleaning arrangement. The position of the surface portion of the supports 26 which is in contact with the shaft extensions of the clearer roller 25 is important because it defines the component of the gravity force which produces friction.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the angle on formed by the needles 18 and the tangent t is 110, in contradistinction to the angle shown in FIG. 2 which is As explained before, the angle a must be chosen according to the number of comb teeth per unit of length of the comb, to the direction and velocity of the suction air current, to the material of the covering of the clearer roller, and to the spinning material. The aforedescribed angle [3 also has some influence on the angle 0:. Tests have shown that, generally, an angle a between 80 and 110 produces satisfactory results.

The operation of the aforedescribed devices is as follows:

The fibrous material accumulating on the rotating clearer rollers 4, 19, 25 is seized by the points of the comb teeth when the layer of fibrous material accumulated on the clearer roller reaches a certain diameter and is picked off, i.e., removed from this layer so that the fibres move into the space between the clearer roller and the casing 3. An air current passing inside the casing to the right in FIG. 1 and to the left in FIGS. 3 and 4 and produced by a suction apparatus, not shown, carries the fibres picked off and liberated by the comb strip. The device according to the invention assures that the thickness of the layer of fibrous material accumulated on the clearer roller never exceeds the measure which is defined by the distance between the needle points and the periphery of the clearer roller. No additional fibres can be accumulated on the clearer roller and no removal of the roller and periodic cleaning by the operator are required.

I claim:

1. In a drafting arrangement for spinning machines having a plurality of top rolls, support means for said rolls, and a clearer roller having a surface capable of accumulating fibres and resting on at least one of said top rolls; means for conducting an air current adjacent to the clearer roller, and a comb having pointed teeth in the immediate vicinity of and not engaging said surface for removing fibres accumulated on said surface and diverting the fibres into said air current.

2. In a drafting arrangement as defined in claim 1 and wherein said comb is placed at an angle between 80 and 110 relative to a tangential plane on said clearer roller at the intersection of the plane of said comb and said surface.

3. In a drafting arrangement as defined in claim 1 and wherein the air is conducted in axial direction alongside the clearer roller and said comb is plane, said teeth being slanted in the direction of the air current at an angle between 60 and along the plane of said comb.

Schultze May 30, 1933 Batchelder July 4, 1939 

